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No gain, no pay

Eskom paymasters would do well to take a leaf out of AMD's book following the disclosure that the chip manufacturer's CEO, Hector Ruiz, received almost 55% less compensation in 2007 than the previous year after the company failed to perform.

Associated Press reports that Ruiz was compensated to the tune of $7,4-million in 2007 – $8,7-million, or 54,3%, down on what he took home in 2006.A proxy statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says Ruiz was paid a salary of $1,1-million, but received no performance-based bonus for the year. In 2006, he was paid a performance bonus of $2,6-million.The balance of Ruiz's 2007 pay package came from stock options valued at around $6,2-million and $74 922 in other compensation, including $29 035 for financial planning and $6 750 in matching contibutions to his pension fund.In 2007, AP says, AMD's shares dropped by more than 63% and it lost revenue of $3,38-billion. It had total revenues of $6,01-billion for the year.